Spectrum Exhibition

Cartographies, Revised

18 June – 1 September 2025

The artists taking part in this year’s Spectrum Photography Residency have been examining methods of image making through embodied curiosities and responses to their surroundings. The residency started with shedding the heavy reliance on technical and formal approaches to making, then started slowly pulling the centre of gravity to orbit around deriving imagery from storied physical encounters. The collective thematics that emerged have revealed personal cartographies that are marked by tensions with familiar dwellings.

The artists excavated stories that held a mirror to themselves and others. Through movement, spatial interrogation and interactions with characters who emerged in their narratives, they uncovered fragments and layers that were pieced together to form artworks, helped by constant studio conversations and peer input. The exhibition displays a thoughtful exploration of ideas that balance the introductory with the iterative, all the while unveiling the artists’ quiet dedication to expand into nuanced ways of conceptualising imagery as containers of sensorial information. Through the weaving of objects, textures and audio, along with moving and still artworks, and stepping away from a reductionist approach of singular outcome-based making, the artists have found their own rhythms in adopting ways of working that root themselves to communicate depth as opposed to spectacle. The flow of the exhibition is an invitation to share these personal maps that were drawn from each artist.

Aman Ali (b. 1996, India) – Labours of Love

Short biography: Aman Ali (b. 1996, Abu Dhabi) is a film photographer living and working in Abu Dhabi. His work focuses on capturing the quiet intensity of everyday life, with an emphasis on overlooked gestures, fleeting expressions and the subtle repetition of the familiar. A lifelong reader, his early relationship with books formed the foundation for his love of storytelling; a thread that runs through his photographic practice today. Though he has no formal training in photography, his work has developed through self-guided exploration and a deep sensitivity to visual narratives. Aman works primarily with film, drawn to its pace and material honesty as a way to remain present with his subjects.

Concept statement: Labours of Love is a part of a series Family Portraits, which presents a selection of images that reveal how the mothers around me care for their children in myriad ways. These images aim to document the stories of love and care, etched into their hands through the years.

These are the hands of mothers
Softly, quietly, lovingly,
Moulding us through the years.
Over the years,
These once soft hands have grown rough.
Within that transformation,
Lies a silent story of love and care.
Never spoken of,
Only shown through the countless acts of love,
For their children.

This series pays tribute to the silent labours and enduring tenderness of mothers, told through the memories etched into their skin. Featuring women from my family, these are not just hands – they are canvases of memory, sacrifice and the love that shapes us into who we are.

Anna Jopp (b. 1983, Poland) – On Gardening

Short biography: Anna Jopp (b. 1983, Poland) is a photographer living in Abu Dhabi. Her growing focus has been on how our relationship with the more-than-human has been shaped by the anthropocentric view of the world, the representation of plants in art or science, as well as the commodification of nature. She also explores how the perception of climate change is shaped by one’s own experiences of environmental loss. Anna received her Master’s degree in English Literature and Linguistics from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań in 2008 and a postgraduate diploma in Graphic Design and Photography at Strzemiński Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź in 2013. Before moving to the United Arab Emirates, she lived in Budapest for ten years, where her last project ‘I never thought this would happen to my garden’ (2023–2024), documenting the gradual loss of spruce trees in Hungary related to climate change, was exhibited in 1111 Gallery and CEU Open Gallery in Budapest in 2024.

Concept statement: Plant blindness is a term coined in the late 1990s by botanists James H. Wandersee and Elisabeth E. Schussler to describe our inability to notice or appreciate plants in our environment. In the current global context of rising temperatures due to climate change, plant blindness poses an urgent consequence, and the role of plants in most urban surroundings presents an altered meaning.

My photographic journey across the cities of the United Arab Emirates is an exploration of patterns and narratives in the life of plants as shaped by humans in public spaces, both in formal as well as informal urban settings. I start with the most visible – the green areas planted to decorate streets and neighbourhoods. I then discover how shopkeepers and residents plant and maintain their own gardens. These can be a few flower pots in front of a shop or bigger gardens planted in front of residential buildings. In the hidden alleys of the inner cities or in remote industrial areas, we even find small fruit and vegetable gardens. Personally, all these efforts manifest the need for, and the beauty of, human connection with nature in the most surprising settings as well as the need to feel ‘at home’ in the city, manifesting itself through gardening. Whether carefully designed by city planners or improvised by its inhabitants, plants deserve to be seen as more than decoration or produce.

Dana Al Dhaen (b. 1999, UAE) – Imprints of the Invisible

Short biography: Dana Al Dhaen (b. 1999, Abu Dhabi) is an Emirati artist with a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science and Sustainability. She primarily works in photography, blending it with digital art to create captivating visual narratives. Through her lens, she captures the intricacies of nature, finding clarity amid the chaos of life. Al Dhaen’s work compels viewers to pause and notice the often-overlooked moments in nature, encouraging a deeper reflection on the microcosms of the natural world.

Concept statement: In my practice, I capture the minuscule moments that unfold within the balance of nature’s processes. It is only when the spaces are sought out that there can be a start to witnessing complexity beneath the surface. In the exploration of these minuscule moments I found myself with these ‘creatures’ through my perception of pareidolia. Seeing these ‘creatures’ in nature, I try to preserve them by digitally drawing them on the photographic images that inspired them.

A conversation
Creature: I am here and I exist
AL Dhaen: I can see you
Creature: How about the others?
AL Dhaen: They will …

Gaze deeply and intentionally, and they will reveal themselves.

Fares Al Kaabi (b. 1990, UAE) – Roots around our hearts and Weeping Roola (شجرة الرولة)

Short biography: Fares Al Kaabi (b. 1990, Al Ain) is a photo/videographer, quotes/script writer, MC and voiceover artist who holds a Bachelor’s degree in Management (2022). His full-time job is very technical, so you’ll not believe he can be this artistically gifted. His passion began when he was MC for a graduation ceremony, and he added a poetic intro—‘Capturing a moment that may not come back’—to the group photo segment. Since then, his photography has been drawn to everyday moments that often go unnoticed. He explores spaces that hold meaning without needing to explain themselves through his images.

Concept statement: My photography comes from the area where I grew up (established in the 1970s), which has now been demolished. This series focuses on doors and windows that remind me of that place. These images speak to me about connection and how spaces communicate and hold stories.

Hessa Alzaabi (b. 1998, UAE) – The Soul Still Remains

Short biography: Hessa Alzaabi (b. 1998, Dubai) is an Emirati artist with a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts in Visual Arts from Zayed University. Her work aims to inspire reflection on the importance of staying connected to one’s roots, emphasising the value of preserving the teachings and culture of past generations, especially in the face of rapid change and an increasingly globalised world. Hessa has exhibited at Dubai Design District, Alserkal Avenue, Sikka Art Fair and The Foundry. Her projects include Kite Project (2020), Being Does Not Have to Be (2021), Distorted Façade (2021), Relics of Identity (2022), and a mural design for the UAE’s 50th National Day in collaboration with the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 2022.

Concept statement: In my work, I explore the intricate relationship between people and spaces within the constantly evolving landscape of Dubai. This city is a testament to rapid change, where familiar landmarks seem to be replaced by new developments nearly overnight. I find myself struggling with the emotional toll of this transformation, particularly in Jumeirah, where I was born and raised—each demolition feels like a personal loss, an erasure of the past that makes it difficult to adapt and have a sense of belonging. As I reflect on how this pace of change impacts my identity, I question the possibility of forming lasting attachments to spaces that are inherently fleeting.

This experience has pushed me to look more closely at my surroundings and to document the beauty of places that will most likely change in the near future. As my own childhood memories fade and landscapes shift within just a few years, I wonder how others in my neighborhood experience the emotional weight of this constant change. Am I the only one who mourns the disappearing memories of the place?

Through my work I tell the stories of people who have lived in Jumeirah for many years. I explore how this change has affected them by offering a glimpse into their private lives and their evolving relationship with a city they hold dear. My work is an attempt at examining the delicate balance between nostalgia and the urgency to embrace the new. I document not just the physical spaces of Jumeirah, but the emotional landscapes they evoke in me. I would like this work to be a reminder to notice, to cherish and to reflect in a world that is constantly changing.

Reem Hamid (b. 1996, UAE) – Between Movement and Stillness (2025)

Short biography: Reem Hamid (b. 1996, Dubai) is a poet and visual artist whose work explores the beauty and complexity of human emotions, focusing on themes of love, grief and home as they relate to the conscious and unconscious mind. Her interdisciplinary practice spans poetry, visual art and performance, often drawing from personal and collective experiences to reflect on memory, movement and the emotional resonance of natural cycles. In 2019, Reem earned a degree in International Business from the University of North Carolina, followed by a Master’s in Public Affairs from UNCG in 2022. She is currently expanding her practice into performance art and sound to evoke spiritual and emotional transformations.

Concept statement: This project explores the tension between movement and stillness through my lived experience of continuously shifting between Abu Dhabi and Dibba. My practice traces a rhythm: the disorienting rush into stillness, the gradual surrender to it, and the inevitable pull back into motion. This repetition becomes a meditation on how my body, mind and spirit adjust, resist and transform through these transitions.

In this introductory iteration, sand becomes the body, constantly shaped by internal and external forces. Projected moving images from my practice are cast into the sand, accompanied by a recorded poem that gives voice to the emotional terrain of these movements and stillnesses.

Yousif Albadi (b. 1989, Sudan) – Spaces We Do Not Name (2025)

Short biography: Yousif Albadi (b. 1989, Sharjah) is a physician and documentary photographer based in Abu Dhabi. Holding an MBBS, his background in medicine profoundly shapes his photographic vision since both disciplines demand acute observation, empathy and meticulous attention to detail. His long-form work explores the human connection with nature, urban spaces, light and shadow through a minimalist aesthetic. A self-taught photographer since 2009, Yousif’s work has gained international recognition, including first place in the ND Awards (Architectural), the ‘Spaces of Light’ competition (Visual Narrative) and N-Photo’s Nikon Magazine Award. His photographs have been exhibited in London, Italy and across the GCC, and featured in National Geographic. He currently serves as MENA Ambassador and Photography Curator at 1x.com.

Concept statement: These works come from a quiet place inside me, shaped by stillness, memory and the spaces I often pass without pause: a corridor, a rooftop edge, the soft glow of a threshold. For me, these spaces aren’t nameless; their names simply haven’t been spoken aloud. Yet they structure how I move through the city. They linger in the background, silently shaping how I experience the day.

This series includes 10 photographic pieces and one central mixed-media work. In some pieces, actual threads extend from the surface—delicate, physical lines that connect image to memory. These threads carry emotional weight: sometimes rooted in specific moments, sometimes imagined, and at times intertwined with real objects gathered from the spaces themselves. They don’t always lead back to something concrete, but they trace how a place becomes personal. The images in this series are not definitive answers—they are open-ended questions. This is an offering, and a quiet invitation to notice what’s often passed by. To sit, even briefly, with the in-between. Not everything we feel in a place needs a name but that doesn’t mean it isn’t there! It’s about how space holds me, changes me and how, in return, I leave pieces of myself behind, sometimes without even noticing.